1. Technical Field
Present invention embodiments relate to data management, and more specifically, to master data management, utilizing a combination of registry and centralized type architectures, and enrichment of a profile managed in either of these styles with supplemental attributes.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Master Data Management (MDM) hubs have provided two approaches for the management of master data. Master data typically includes information pertaining to the operation of a business (e.g., customers, products, employees, materials, suppliers, etc.), and is generally stored in different data sources across that business. Each management approach addresses different implementation styles delineated primarily on the location where the ownership and management of master data occurs.
In a registry style (or virtual master data management) approach, source systems are the systems of record for providing master data, and changes to the master data are made through these existing source systems. A virtual master data management system gets loaded with records from the source systems that are associated with entities (e.g., person, corporation, company, organization, business, etc.), and determines similar or matching records that are associated with the same entity. The virtual master data management system stores only enough information to match and provide linkages between the similar and matching records for each of the entities. A trusted view of this information for an entity is subsequently provided to a user on demand from data within the source systems. Since a single view of an entity is not persisted to storage (of the virtual master data management system), modifications to master data are made via the source systems.
In a centralized style (or physical master data management) approach, master data from source systems is loaded into a single repository of a physical master data management system, and all information relevant to providing a single view of an entity is stored in that repository. Matching and collapsing of records across the source systems are performed, and a single view of the entity is typically persisted in the repository. The physical master data management system becomes the system of record for managing master data from that point forward.
However, these master data management styles are not always sufficient, and do not always fully accommodate the breadth of master data management requirements that commonly evolve over time with the growth and adoption of master data management techniques in support of the data governance strategies within an enterprise. This typically results in the proliferation and attempts to federate multiple master data management (MDM) hubs of the different styles, thereby incurring additional integration complexity, maintenance costs, and version alignment of supporting software.